Spicy Buffalo Chicken Burger

I created this burger for Chad, my awesome husband.  His love of way too spicy hot sauce and buffalo wings coated in said hot sauce was the inspiration for this burger.  Right away I knew that the burger needed to be on a pretzel bun; this fabulous definition of what a pretzel bun should taste like.  It is firm and pretzely on the outside and soft and pillowy on the inside.  What a magical combination!

Now I can't speak much of buffalo wings as they are on my list of things I don't eat.  Maybe my mom dropped me on my head when I was a baby or perhaps I am just weird.  Who knows, but I am going with the latter. 

This Buffalo Chicken Burger on the other hand was my perfect opportunity to create my perfect version of Hot Buffalo Chicken wings the way I see them and it was quite a success.  I started with spicy chicken sausage to pull in the flavors of the buffalo wings and its also something I can eat.  Then, I added honey to the hot sauce to sweeten it up a bit.  Its just hot enough to make your mouth tingle. The perfect heat to make both of us happy.

Then, I incorporated the blue cheese that is usually served with hot wings and it made for a fantastic combination!  This burger is really simple, but sooooo amazing!  So cancel your dinner plans you are going to want to make this ASAP.  Oh, and don't forget the beer, you are going to LOVE this!

Spicy Buffalo Chicken Burger

serves 2 - 4

½ cup buffalo sauce

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons honey

1 pound spicy chicken sausage, casings removed

Olive oil

1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
red onion slices

4 pretzel buns (or your favorite bun)

Preheat grill to medium high.

In a small sauce pan over medium heat, combine butter and honey.  Once butter mixture is melted add buffalo sauce.  Whisk to combine, once mixture is almost boiling (starting to bubble) reduce to simmer until thickened.

Portion and form chicken sausage into patties slightly larger than your bun (4 ounce to serve 4, 8 ounce to serve 2).  Make a slight indentation in the center of the burger to prevent it from doming up in the center. The indentation will rise as your burger cooks. 

Grill until golden brown and slightly charred (about 3-5 minutes), turning once (cook for 3 minutes on the other side for medium). Once patty is turned liberally brush hot sauce onto burger.  After you remove the burger from the heat, brush the other side.  Try not to press down on your burger with a spatula. It will cause the juices to escape and will create a dry burger!

To assemble burger, place 2 rings of red onion on the bottom bun.  Place the chicken sausage on top.  Make sure chicken sausage patty is well coated in hot sauce.  Add blue cheese to top of burger and serve!

Enjoy.

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